By Megan McDonald Cavalier Daily Associate Editor In Richmond over the weekend, the Virginia women's rugby team won the Mid-Atlantic regional title. They defeated the Naval Academy 15-0 Saturday and overcame No. 2 Pennsylvania State 13-7 Sunday in the finals.
The women's rugby team is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation, and although the team is technically a club team, it behaves like a varsity sport. In fact, this is the norm for collegiate women's rugby: of the 350 women's teams throughout the country, only a few are affiliated with the NCAA. The rest of the teams play under the USA Rugby Governing Body, which functions much as the NCAA does.
Virginia is considered a Division I rugby team, but the designation is completely separate from and unaffiliated with the NCAA's Division I classification.
During the fall season, the Cavaliers play other teams in the Virginia Rugby Union. This past fall, the Virginia women won the end-of-season intrastate tournament and earned the No. 1 ranking in the state.
During the spring, the team competes at the national level. The season commences with games against other schools in the Mid-Atlantic territory and then progresses to a regional tournament which is much like an ACC conference championship. Finally, there is a national tournament where the top 16 teams vie for a chance to be No. 1 in the country. Currently, Stanford is the top team in the country.
"We are the only college women's team in the USA to have made it to eight consecutive Sweet Sixteens," co-captain Siobhan Tiernan said. "We made it to Final Fours in the spring of 2004 and have been working very hard to get back there and hopefully stake out our claim for a national championship."
So far this spring, the Virginia women are undefeated. In three weeks, after this weekend's wins, the team will travel to the national competition -- the Sweet Sixteen.
The team attributes its success to the dedication of its players and coaches. For more than 10 years, Nancy Kechner and Julie Comer have coached the team completely voluntarily.
"I cannot imagine what the team would be like without their guidance," co-captain Fiona Foxon said. "Especially with a sport that is so new to so many women, to have experienced rugby players who have devoted their life to coaching and mentoring collegiate women is truly a gift."
Most members of the team have never played rugby before they join the team and do not even know the rules. There are no try-outs, and since most are unfamiliar with the game, the fall season begins with practices at the introductory level.
"We always work on the basics first and encourage questions, mistakes and general bewilderment," Foxon said. "The best way to learn how to play rugby is to get in a game, so we try and ensure that every one gets as much playing time as possible."
To this end, the team generally plays two matches at a time: one for the A-side, consisting of the first-string players, and one for the B-side, the developmental players.
Despite their relative inexperience and non-selectiveness, the women's rugby team consistently ranks among the nation's top teams. To explain this achievement, credit is given to the team's unity.
"The most important secret to our success is our team dynamic," Tiernan said. "We have a general love of each other. The rugby team at U.Va. is my family here, and when you step on to the field, you know there are 30 other people who you are playing for, and you don't want to let them down. Without this amazing bond we have, I think our performance as a team would suffer."
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